Markelle Fultz Updates Thread

[Popsicle1228]

Fultz does many things very well. Namely he has good court vision, ball handling, bbIQ, passing, rebounding, is super athletic and has a nose for the ball on defense. I believe he will be a positive contributor on this team this year.

Nevertheless, I am concerned about his shooting. He appears comfortable shooting around the rim, post and short mid-range. His shooting form looks similar to how it looked in Washington from short and mid-range, but looks vastly different from his 3 point shooting form. This is simply speculation, but I wonder if he has changed his long range form in an effort to curb TOS flare ups?

What also concerns me is his hesitation to shoot from range. We all saw the wide open 3 he hesitated and decided to pass on last night. It would make sense for him to be hesitant if he is actively having to think about shifting in and out of his natural shooting form and if he is concerned that long range shooting will cause another flare. I don’t understand how anyone could be a successful shooter under those conditions, but I am hoping he figures it out.

In all, if he continues to improve what he is already good at (which is a lot), I believe he will be a positive contributor in the NBA for a long time. If he develops a respectable shot from range, he will be an absolute nightmare for opposing teams.

[jayrehme]

Fultz does many things very well. Namely he has good court vision, ball handling, bbIQ, passing, rebounding, is super athletic and has a nose for the ball on defense. I believe he will be a positive contributor on this team this year.

Nevertheless, I am concerned about his shooting. He appears comfortable shooting around the rim, post and short mid-range. His shooting form looks similar to how it looked in Washington from short and mid-range, but looks vastly different from his 3 point shooting form. This is simply speculation, but I wonder if he has changed his long range form in an effort to curb TOS flare ups?

What also concerns me is his hesitation to shoot from range. We all saw the wide open 3 he hesitated and decided to pass on last night. It would make sense for him to be hesitant if he is actively having to think about shifting in and out of his natural shooting form and if he is concerned that long range shooting will cause another flare. I don’t understand how anyone could be a successful shooter under those conditions, but I am hoping he figures it out.

In all, if he continues to improve what he is already good at (which is a lot), I believe he will be a positive contributor in the NBA for a long time. If he develops a respectable shot from range, he will be an absolute nightmare for opposing teams.

Has he EVER shot well from that far away from the basket? Maybe the NBA 3 is just out of his current natural range... even if he doesn't extend that far, he can be a great contributor and all star player. There is nothing to be concerned about.

[zuppafly]

The only concern I have with Fultz is in case he feels something (pain or simple discomfort) while shooting from any range.
If he doesn't feel discomfort nor pain I have 0 concerns about his game.

The kid spent the summer before this one reworking his shot into something unbearable to watch because he was in pain. He tried to play through it until he got the diagnosis of TOS and went through (what seems to have been) the right treatment. He only has 2 weeks of training with a team behind him, he had yet to play a 5on5 game with the public in the stands, all eyes on his shot, since he started his specific rehab program.

It's more than ok for him to hesitate, to have a weird-looking form on his long-range, to miss 75 to 80% of his 3pters. It will take time to become comfortable again shooting them.

Again, as long as he's pain-free and feels nothing wrong with his body while shooting them, let him take his (long) time to readjust the form and recalibrate. What he showed in 2 pre-season games is already worth more than a couple of seconds and half a year of J. Simmons.

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

Pretty sure the Hawks announcer is incorrect when saying Fultz had a "procedure" to cure his TOS, but regardless - here's video of his FT stroke.

[MagicStarwipe]

I saw him kind of lift his shoulder shake out his right arm when the ball wasn't in play at one point. Something to keep an eye on.

[pepe1991]

Watch on YouTube

Copy past same like he looked before one year off.
Same dribbles, same type of shots he is comfortable making ,same shots he is not. Zero desire to shoot 3s , really nice player off bounce , can get in middle of the floor and pass ,but simply incomplete guard by nba standards due zero shooting.

It's still preseason and normally it's too early to say anything, but given his condition and shoulder issue i'm not sure playing more will actuall help him feel better or feel worst ( i assume he has to do physical therapy all the time ? )

[tiderulz]

Watch on YouTube

Copy past same like he looked before one year off.
Same dribbles, same type of shots he is comfortable making ,same shots he is not. Zero desire to shoot 3s , really nice player off bounce , can get in middle of the floor and pass ,but simply incomplete guard by nba standards due zero shooting.

It's still preseason and normally it's too early to say anything, but given his condition and shoulder issue i'm not sure playing more will actuall help him feel better or feel worst ( i assume he has to do physical therapy all the time ? )

maybe. but he also may be feeling out the whole recovery and those "same shots" he was taking before might not be hurting him now. when coming back from any type of injury, the biggest thing is mental

[AddiFB]

I'm just happy we have two capable point guards instead of one or two trash point guards. One of them is a very solid backup PG who is now a starting PG, while the other is a potential star player who is now a reserve PG.

I believe Fultz will be fine. Sure, his shoulder may still be bothering him, but he seems like a kid who is capable of transforming his game to adjust to it. Will he pan out and be a star? Will he fall short and eventually fade away? Who knows, all I know is it didn't cost us the entire roster to get him, we got him for an open bag of Doritos and lottery tickets.

We now have no glaring holes in our rotation. No PURE STAR, yet, but a lot of depth, lots of longbois, lots of defense, lots of shooting, lots of everything. We are not trash anymore. We can cause havoc and annoy the really good teams and even beat them.

Happy.

[axl_c_cool]

I'm just happy we have two capable point guards instead of one or two trash point guards. One of them is a very solid backup PG who is now a starting PG, while the other is a potential star player who is now a reserve PG.

I believe Fultz will be fine. Sure, his shoulder may still be bothering him, but he seems like a kid who is capable of transforming his game to adjust to it. Will he pan out and be a star? Will he fall short and eventually fade away? Who knows, all I know is it didn't cost us the entire roster to get him, we got him for an open bag of Doritos and lottery tickets.

We now have no glaring holes in our rotation. No PURE STAR, yet, but a lot of depth, lots of longbois, lots of defense, lots of shooting, lots of everything. We are not trash anymore. We can cause havoc and annoy the really good teams and even beat them.

Happy.

This, at worst he'll be a good back up, at best an All-Star, I can live with that, and our roster

[swarlesbarkley]

I thought Fultz's free throw form last night looked like Steph Curry's.

Watch on YouTube

[UCF]

I haven’t felt this good about our pg position in a long time. We’re three deep with quality players. Fultz didn’t have a great game yesterday but he still showed flashes of why he went #1.

[swarlesbarkley]

Fultz clearly has the skills to be a good to great NBA player. He just needs to work on his confidence with his scoring which is what I think he'll do all this season. Start with confidence driving/finishing/short-mid range jumpers, move to confidence with free throws (looked good last night), then confidence with 3s.

So far through 3 games we've seen him hesitant to shoot 3s but not hesitant at all to drive and potentially get fouled. That's a great sign IMO since his most mocked moments have come from his free throws.

[ezzzp]

Watch on YouTube

[KillMonger]

His free throws look fine, which makes me feel that he'll get rid of the hesitancy. Teams are going to be daring him to shoot, so if it's there he has to take it instead of forcing a drive.

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[SOUL]

He seems a little too herky jerky for his own good. Like, old D-Rose used to have that style but it was kind of selective, mostly when he was driving or stop-starting when continuing a dribble, but Markelle consistently seems like his head is too big or something. Just needs to play more patient and use movement wisely instead of wasting it.

[yoyojw17]

2019 season goes by injury free.... we are good to go. The guy hasn't played in 10 months and is playing with a new team. We should not be on his case for a bit. happy to see him playing painfree!! hopefully that continues!

[thelead]

2019 season goes by injury free.... we are good to go. The guy hasn't played in 10 months and is playing with a new team. We should not be on his case for a bit. happy to see him playing painfree!! hopefully that continues!

Seriously. Some are already trying to crucify him or claim ‘they were right’ when in reality, no one here even knew he was going to play for us just a few weeks ago.

[pepe1991]

There is also objective chance that he, much like Lonzo, Winslow, Derrick Williams and many others, was never "elite" shooter, just a guy who cought fire in right moment and that took his career ( and expetations) in one direction.
Elite shooters don't shoot 65% FTs.

[PrimeThyme]

I'm just hoping he can keep confidence in all the other areas of his game outside of his shooting. I think he will start to finish some of these shots around the rim he is missing. I've been very impressed with his playmaking and defense so far.

However, I do not expect him to become a shooter anytime soon. I think we are starting from ground zero in a lot of ways when it comes to him as a shooter. Not so much with his mid-range which I think will improve in time, but his 3pt shot is a long way away. I think there is a reason why he is hesitant to shoot it. Most of his 3pt attempts so far have looked very shaky. Especially, the one he had the other day against the Celtics.

His 3pt motion is much more of a push shot right now. I just think anyone expecting him to be that 3pt shooter he was at Washington this year, should shift their expectations imo.

[pinoynurse]

Have to agree here... definitely doesnt look like he will be a 3 point threat for a couple years. Im not a fan of his low release push shot. Hope im wrong though rooting for the guy